Jean-François Doré interviewed regarding sunbed use
October 18, 2018
Professor Jean-François Doré, Senior Research Fellow of the International Prevention Research Institute (iPRI), has been interviewed recently on French television (M6) regarding the health risks associated with sunbed use.
Professor Doré emphasised that “the use of sunbeds and the exposure to artificial ultraviolet radiation has been demonstrated to increase the risk of skin cancer and of melanoma in particular, the most dangerous of skin cancers. The risk is increased by 60% when the exposure starts at a young age, before 35 years of age.”
ANSES, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, has recommended to the French Ministry of Health to introduce a ban on sunbeds in solariums and sunlamps at home.
Along with Professor Doré, iPRI epidemiologists Professors Philippe Autier and Mathieu Boniol have been at the forefront of research into the risk of melanoma associated with both natural and artificial sources of ultraviolet light for over two decades. Legislation to ban the use of sunbeds marks the culmination work into the identification of a human cancer threat with these first steps taken towards its prevention.
The International Prevention Research Institute strongly support such a ban on sunbeds and other sources of artificial ultraviolet light for tanning purposes. This will be a contribution to the prevention of skin melanoma, other skin cancers and also of eye melanoma.
Some key references:
- Autier P, Dore JF, Eggermont AM, Coebergh JW. Epidemiological evidence that UVA radiation is involved in the genesis of cutaneous melanoma. Curr Opin Oncol. 2011;23(2):189-96.
- Berwick M, Dore JF. Invited Commentary: Indoor Tanning-A Melanoma Accelerator? Am J Epidemiol. 2017;185(3):157-59.
- Boniol M, Cesarini P, Chignol MC, Cesarini JP, Dore JF. [Why indoor tanning must be taxed? A proposal from La Securite Solaire, WHO collaborating centre]. Presse Med. 2010;39(12):1236-7.
- Boniol M, Autier P, Boyle P, Gandini S. Cutaneous melanoma attributable to sunbed use: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2012 Jul 24;345:e4757.
- Boniol M, Coignard F, Vacquier B, Benmarhnia T, Gaillot-de Saintignon J, Le Tertre A, et al. Health impact assessment of artificial ultraviolet radiation from sunbeds on cutaneous melanoma in France. BEH. 2012;18-19.
- Héry C, Tryggvadóttir L, Sigurdsson T, Sigurdsson T, Ólafsdóttir E, Sigurgeirsson B, et al. A melanoma epidemic in Iceland: Possible influence of sunbed use. Am J Epidemiol 2010;172(7):762-7.
